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Foreign exchange market 
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 22nd 2012
HSBC: Euro Will Strengthen In Q1 2012
Deutsche Bank: Japanese Yen Will Strengthen Further
GBPUSD: Budget Surplus Fails To Support British Pound
AUDUSD: Australian Dollar Exchange Rate Will Depend On Inflation
USDCHF: Lower External Trade Surplus Fails To Curb Swiss Franc Strengthening
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 22nd 2012
HSBC: Euro Will Strengthen In Q1 2012
Deutsche Bank: Japanese Yen Will Strengthen Further
GBPUSD: Budget Surplus Fails To Support British Pound
AUDUSD: Australian Dollar Exchange Rate Will Depend On Inflation
USDCHF: Lower External Trade Surplus Fails To Curb Swiss Franc Strengthening
Stock and commodities markets
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 21st 2012.
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 20th 2012
Crude Oil Market Outlook. Feb 17th 2012
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 16th 2012
Crude Oil: Prices Hit 6-Month High
Sugar Market Outlook. Feb 15th2012
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 21st 2012.
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 20th 2012
Crude Oil Market Outlook. Feb 17th 2012
Gold And Silver: Daily Market Outlook. Feb 16th 2012
Crude Oil: Prices Hit 6-Month High
Sugar Market Outlook. Feb 15th2012
Business And Politics News
European Natural Gas Crisis: Natural Outcome or Russia’s Game?
Citigroup: Euro Zone May Follow In Steps Of USSR’s Ruble Zone
Nuclear Energy: Present And Future
European Budgetary Union: Illusion or Way Out Of Debt Crisis?
Separatism in Scotland: Threat or Panacea for the United Kingdom?
Investing In Video Games: Pay To Play Or Free To Play?
European Natural Gas Crisis: Natural Outcome or Russia’s Game?
Citigroup: Euro Zone May Follow In Steps Of USSR’s Ruble Zone
Nuclear Energy: Present And Future
European Budgetary Union: Illusion or Way Out Of Debt Crisis?
Separatism in Scotland: Threat or Panacea for the United Kingdom?
Investing In Video Games: Pay To Play Or Free To Play?
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Business And Politics News
Transparency International: Corruption Perception Index 2011 - Valuable Info For Investors Or Weapons Of Manipulating Public Opinion?
29 December 04:22 AM
Everyone knows perfectly well that a country’s level of corruption is a major factor a foreign investor considers when evaluating the coutry’s investment attractiveness. Today, when the entire world is on the verge of another major crisis, with some countries already experiencing it, the attraction of new investments becomes a matter of life and death.
Amid this global uncertainty, Transparency International released its Corruption Perceptions Index 2011.
Let’s find out whether this index by Transparency International contains important info or not.
Tips for investors: importance, benefits and drawbacks of ratings
Before invest their money anywhere, wise investors collect and analyze all the existing info on the relevant company or country. Here is where numerous rating agencies and other institutions offer their “masterpieces”. More and more experts start questioning the objectivity of those ratings and indexes.
In its turn, Market Leader also tries to be as unbiased as possible when considering any issue relevant for traders and investors, thus making a comprehensive analysis of the issue.
According to Eugene Olkhovsky, Masterforex-V Academy’s leading Canadian expert in financial markets, all the ratings that concern nations, governments and states, should be unbiased, correct, and easy to read and understand, with clear criteria, notions and methodology. Otherwise, any rating can turn into a weapon of manipulation and info war.
On Dec 1st 2011 Transparency International released its Corruption Perceptions Index 2011 for 183 countries of the world.
What do we know about TI? The official website goes: “Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption…” You can read the full text here. It has been releasing its annual index since 1995.
What is corruption for TI? The official website says: “Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone whose life, livelihood or happiness depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.”
What is Corruption Perceptions Index? Each country in the list is credited with a certain amount of points, which determines its standing in the rating from #1 (the best) to #183 (the worst).
This is what the site says: “The CPI ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. It is a composite index, a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The CPI reflects the views of observers from around the world, including experts living and working in the countries/territories evaluated.”
How can a country improve its rating? Any progress in this field is taken into account. For example, Russia moved a few levels up due to several amendments to its anti-corruption legislation (including huge fines, tougher sanctions etc.) and its desire to join the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.
According to Huguette Labelle, Chair of TI, the political leaders around the world should respond to the people’s demand for better public administration.
The list of the least corrupted countries has been unchanged over the last 5 years. New Zealand is the frontrunner once again (9.5 points). It is followed by Denmark , Finland (9.4 pts), Sweden , Singapore, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and Canada.
High achievers. The USA comes 24th in the rating (7,1pts). The 2nd and 3rd dozen include: Great Britain – 7,8, France – 7, Spain – 6,2 and other EU countries. However, Italy received only 3,9pts thus finding itself even below Turkey (4,2pts).
Average “scorers”. BRIC countries – Brazil, India, China - are number 73, 95 and 75 correspondingly. Most East European countries have higher standings: Poland –41, Hungary – 54, Turkey – 61, Slovakia – 66, Romania – 75.
Ex-USSR countries. Russia improved its position from #154 up to #143. Belarus and Azerbaijan come next with the same index. Kazakhstan Armenia and Moldova stand a little higher with 2,7, 2,6 and 2,9 points correspondingly. Ukraine and Tajikistan lag behind Russia by 1 point (2,3pts). Kyrgyzstan is number 164, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan come 177th (1.6pts). Among all the ex-USSR states, there are mere frontrunners: Baltic states (Lithuania - 4,8, Latvia - 4,2, Estonia - 6,4) and Georgia (4,1).
The experts of Masterforex-V Academy have found many surprising things in the corruption rating:
1. How did TI’s experts, who work in 100 countries around the world, manage to gather all the necessary data for 183 countries (including surveys and interviews)?
2. It would be very interesting to know whom they interviewed in such “friendly” countries as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Somali, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and other countries with military regimes.
3. Who can guarantee the respondents’ loyalty and objectivity. It well maybe that all the respondents are dissatisfied with the current authorities and consequently can be biased.
4. Bribe Payers Index. The preceding rating released by TI on Nov 2nd 2011 suggests that Russia is number 1. It appears that Russian businessmen give a lot of bribes abroad. Then who takes them? Probably, they are not Africans.
5. As for the frontrunners, it is said that the anticorruption legislation in those countries is very tough. Ok, then try to explain how China, where bribers are sentenced to death, can be number 75 in Corruption Perceptions Index 2011!
6. Another (and the most striking) thing: How can North Korea, an absolutely totalitarian state with no free enterprise, be among the outsiders of Corruption Perceptions Index 2011? May be the USSR under Joseph Stalin was corruption-ridden as well?!
Think about it…
Market Leader and Masterforex-V Academy would appreciate if you could participate in a survey. Please, visit the Academy’s forum for traders and investors and answer the following question:
Do you think this rating can be trusted and why?
You are free to discuss this article here: forum for traders and investors
European Natural Gas Crisis: Natural Outcome or Russia’s Game?
Natural gas import is still a major concern for the EU, especially this winter, which has been extremely cold. As a result, the consumption of natural gas in Europe has grown significantly, thus revealing a whole bunch of problems, including supplies and prices.
So, let’s have a closer look at the current situation in the European market of natural gas.
This winter every European country has shown increased demand for natural gas due to severe frosts. However, according to the Euro Commission, for some reason Russia reduced its export of natural gas to Europe in February (by 50% to the Czech Republic, by 30% to Austria, by 24% to Italy and by 8% to Poland). Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Slovakia are in the same list.
Publication date: 17 February 10:14 AM
Citigroup: Euro Zone May Follow In Steps Of USSR’s Ruble Zone
A couple of days ago Willem Buiter, Chief Economist of Citigroup Inc., introduced a new notion – “rublezonefication”. According the Western mass media (Bloomberg, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes etc), the respected economist used this notion to describe the future of the eurozone.
According to Willem Buiter, the ECB may initiate the collapse of the eurozone by allowing the union’s national central banks to expand their balance sheets at varying interest rates. This was the mistake made by the USSR’s central bank before the collapse of the so-called “ruble zone”.
The thing is that not so long ago the ECB provided the national banks of France, Italy, Spain , Austria, Portugal , Ireland and Cyprus with the abovementioned freedoms. Despite the temporary nature of these steps taken by the ECB, Mr. Buiter assumes that the eurozone members may eventually go back to their national currencies.
Is the eurozone really in trouble?
Publication date: 17 February 05:30 AM
Nuclear Energy: Present And Future
For decades people have been pondering on the same questions: Is nuclear energy worth betting on? Will it be the energy of the future? Is it too dangerous for the humanity to keep developing nuclear facilities around the world?
No wonder that there are many supporters and adversaries. Each party has weighty arguments.
As we know, last year nuclear energy became a special concern for the entire world. The Fukushima meltdown in 2011 (as the result of several earthquakes and tsunamis) reminded everyone that nuclear energy is as dangerous as powerful.
Shortly after the disaster, most nuclear countries started emergency testing of their nuclear power plants to find out whether they are safe enough. Some of them decided to abandon their nuclear plans.
Now let’s have a closer look at the results of such policies and the prospects of nuclear power engineering.
Publication date: 16 February 08:31 AM
European Budgetary Union: Illusion or Way Out Of Debt Crisis?
EU leaders held another summit in Brussels on Jan 30th. It was attended by mixed sentiments and forecasts. Luckily, the EU and the eurozone managed to avoid disintegration. However, they didn’t find the cure for all the economic problems in the union either.
Germany and France, 2 economic locomotives of the debt-ridden eurozone, didn’t quit the currency union despite expectations but made another (the last) warning to the other eurozone members, thus reminding them to maintain budgetary discipline and forcing them to sing a “fiscal plan”.
Publication date: 04 February 02:20 PM
Separatism in Scotland: Threat or Panacea for the United Kingdom?
Investment news, Great Britain. Europe has introduced a number of surprises, not all of them being pleasant for investors. First of all, there has been a powerful debt crisis, which has resulted into the most large-scale problems ever faced by euro zone.
It is now added by rather serious talks about separatism and possible dissolution of certain members of European Union, including those that are at the top of global economy. This primarily concerns Great Britain, which has been struck by the information announced at the very beginning of 2012.
Publication date: 03 February 08:43 AM
Investing In Video Games: Pay To Play Or Free To Play?
The video game industry in the US and Europe seems to have reached its climax. Millions of gamers are looking forward to purchasing their own copy of another bestseller. They are ready to pay monthly fees for playing online and to buy various artifacts and items to take advantage over their enemies. Investors now seem to be more willing to invest millions in the industry.
The video game market of the CIS states is not as developed as the western one. Consequently, it presents special interest to the giants of the global video game industry. Pay to play and free to play are the 2 basic business approaches to earning on MMORPGs.
What are the essential differences between these two business approaches?
Publication date: 02 February 09:11 AM
Russian Oil: Fantastic Profits And Terrible Problems
Sometimes crude oil is referred to as “black gold”. For traders this is a major commodity. For investors this is a major investment object and a source of income.
Crude oil has been the reason for multiple wars (for example, Iraq, Libya, Persian Gulf) and international confrontation (USA – Iran, USA – Venezuela ).
Tips for beginners: crude oil is considered the most liquid and competitive commodity and energy carrier. Russia controls 1/6th of the global market of crude oil. It is the world’s number 7 in terms of oil reserves and a major oil exporter.
Publication date: 30 January 04:32 AM
Who will be Chosen the Best Micro Broker of 2012?
News of forex broker rating. Every beginning trader that decides to become a professional, having completed forex training, faces a dilemma – which Forex broker to choose in order to open his first real trading account.
How to identify the best micro broker worldwide, which provides support in Russian, possesses starting deposit ranging from 1 to 20, maximum to 50 US dollars, has no experience of requotes, slipping, fraud, and deceit?
Why should real trading at forex market start with micro accounts?
Publication date: 25 January 06:11 PM
Will BRICS Save Eurozone From Crisis?
The eurozone is on the verge of collapse. Another attempt to resolve the crisis has failed. The multiple loans generously provided by the IMF, the EFSF and the World Bank to the sick eurozone economies of Greece, Portugal , Ireland hasn’t made a miracle.
Brussels seems to be ready to accept aid from anywhere, even from those countries that are not its allies or friends to, say the least. One of them are the so-called BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).
All of them are united by the dynamic pace of economic growth and considerable stabilization funds. Till autumn 2011 the EU was rather skeptical about BRICS. French, British and German mass media would often assault and criticized the informal union, its members and their relations. Later the situation changed when Brussels had to come back to earth and ask BRICS for help.
Autumn promises: How can BRICS help the eurozone?
Publication date: 13 January 06:56 AM
Danish Presidency Of EU Council: Any Changes For Investors
On January 1st 2012 Denmark started its presidency of the EU Council. A small Scandinavian country is now in charge of the unofficial EU cabinet of ministers. Yet, this is one of the most dramatic periods in the history of the EU, when the very existence of the union is under threat.
What should we expect from Denmark ? What are the country’s ambitions and priorities?
What is the presidency of the EU Council?
According to the experts of Masterforex-V Academy, the EU Council and the European Parliament are the EU’s major authorities (all in all, there are 7 institutions).
Each EU member has a right to preside over the EU Council. It is done by turn, yet there is no exception, regardless of economic potential, size, period of being an EU member etc. In 6 months Denmark will yield power to Cyprus . Denmark has presided over the EU Council for 7 times since joining the EU.
Publication date: 05 January 05:15 PM